PrepTest 155, Section 2, Question 20
Social observer: Advertising agencies are willfully neglecting the(43 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(15 more words not shown)
- AOlder people generally(13 more words not shown)
- BNo company can(22 more words not shown)
- CAdvertising that is(20 more words not shown)
- DNo advertising agency(24 more words not shown)
- EAny advertising agency(26 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Having more money doesn't mean being easier to persuade to spend it.
The observer is surprised that advertisers neglect older adults. If this really is such a profitable market, why aren't agencies already pursuing it? The evidence is that older adults control more disposable income than everyone else combined. That gives them money to spend, but it doesn't settle how they respond to advertising.
Maybe they are more careful with their money. Maybe they're less interested in buying the latest fidget spinner or other fashionable product after seeing an ad. Those are possible objections, not claims about older people. They show the gap between controlling income and being the audience that maximizes a client's profits.
What we’re looking for
We're asked for an assumption that makes the conclusion follow. We need a rule connecting those two things: targeting the group that controls this much disposable income will maximize profits.
Working the answers
- A
This could help explain why older people have more financial resources. But we already have the relevant income comparison. We need to establish that directing advertisements toward them will maximize profits, and A gives no rule connecting their resources to that result.
- B
This says a company cannot maximize profits without targeting a group controlling most disposable income. That makes targeting such a group a requirement. It doesn't make meeting the requirement a guarantee. A company could target the right group and still fail to maximize profits for another reason. The conclusion needs the guarantee: do this, and you will get the result.
- C
Improving a product's reputation isn't the same as maximizing profit. An advertising campaign could make people think more highly of a product without causing enough extra purchases to produce the greatest profit. C supplies a different outcome from the one we need.
- D
This rules out targeting an audience that controls little disposable income as a way to maximize profits. It doesn't establish that targeting older adults succeeds. Knowing one strategy fails doesn't prove another strategy delivers the maximum possible profit.
- ECorrect
More than the rest of the population combined means more than half of the total. Older adults therefore control more than 50 percent of disposable income, so they meet this rule's threshold of 50 percent or more. The rule then guarantees that an agency targeting them will maximize its clients' profits. That takes us from the stated income fact to the desired result. Exactly 50 percent wouldn't be 'more than the rest combined,' but that doesn't matter: the actual group is above 50 percent and therefore qualifies under E.
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